Mohammed Bello has accused the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) of blocking his father, former Kaduna State governor Nasir el-Rufai, from getting medical and family care while in detention.
In a statement released late Friday, Bello said ICPC officials stopped El-Rufai’s personal doctor from seeing him at the agency’s detention facility, despite a court order allowing unrestricted access to his doctors.
According to Bello, the doctor arrived around 3pm on Friday to discuss recent medical test results but was turned away by officials who allegedly demanded written approval from the ICPC chairman.
It reads partly: “Our father, Mallam Nasir, is still being held by the ICPC. Today, 15 May 2026, we witnessed two distinct yet equally serious attacks on his basic rights. First, his personal Doctor visited the ICPC at about 3pm to discuss the results of medical tests recently conducted on our father. Officials at the agency blocked the doctor from seeing him, claiming that written permission from the ICPC Chairman was required. This directly flouts a clear court order granting Mallam Nasir El-Rufai unrestricted access to his doctors.”
Bello also claimed El-Rufai’s second wife, Aichatou, was denied access to deliver his evening meal because officials said food deliveries were not allowed after 6:30pm.
“No lawful detention justifies denying medical access or refusing basic family care based on an arbitrary curfew fixed by the ICPC,” he added.
El-Rufai has been in ICPC custody since February 19 over alleged financial impropriety during his time as Kaduna governor from 2015 to 2023.
